Alerts

Our department has been conducting operational reviews of plant, animal and biological import conditions to protect Australia’s biosecurity status and to maintain our market access for agricultural products. The review of import conditions is part of strengthening biosecurity surveillance and analysis under the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper. Further information on the Agricultural Competitiveness White Paper can be located on the departments website at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity/agwhitepaper-bio-surveillance-analysis.

We have now commenced work on reviewing the conditions for seeds for sowing which encompasses over 30,000 species.

The seed reviews will:

• ensure import conditions are understandable and easy to find in our department’s Biosecurity Import Conditions system (BICON)
  

• make sure import conditions are based on current information and risk management approaches while being a minimum burden
  

• allow us to identify the treatments available to manage biosecurity risks such as pests, disease and contaminants.
  

We have established an ‘Imported seed regulation working group’, consisting of departmental and industry representatives who will be used to assist in the review of import conditions and managing biosecurity risks.

The amount of change to import conditions will vary between commodities. Some will have minimal or no change, and some may have significant changes. Where a major impact on industry is identified, we will work with the industry and keep them informed of the changes and how they will be implemented.

In conjunction with operational seed reviews, we have also commenced an extensive review of existing import conditions for select ‘vegetable seeds’, with current priority on the following seed groups:

• Apiaceae family (carrot, celery, parsley)
  

• Brassicaceae family (cauliflower, cabbage)
  

• Cucurbitaceae family (cucumber, gourd, melon)
  

• Solanaceae family (capsicum, eggplant, tomato).
  

Further information on the vegetable seed reviews can be located at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/goods/plant-products/seeds-for-sowing/vegetable-seeds-policy-review.

How to stay in touch?

While we are working to safeguard Australia’s agricultural industries, any changes to regulatory measures could affect seed importers and Australian primary producers. There are three ways you can stay informed about the progress of these reviews.

• As import conditions are reviewed, any updates or changes will be outlined in BICON. The best way to stay informed of changes is to register as a BICON user (use the follow case function to receive email notifications when a case changes or has an alert).  Please refer to the online factsheet on how to ‘Follow a BICON case’ (https://bicon.agriculture.gov.au/BiconWeb4.0/HelpFiles/External/Conditions/How%20do%20I%20use%20Case%20Options%20and%20Case%20Details.pdf).
  

If you are new to BICON, learn how to use BICON through our introductory eLearning module (http://www.agriculture.gov.au/Documents/bicon-elearning-introduction/index.html).

• Subscribe to Import Industry Notice to Industry for general updates on plant and animal classes (http://www.agriculture.gov.au/import/industry-advice).
  

• Register your interest by emailing the Plant Import Conditions Review team at planticr@agriculture.gov.